While I was away studying abroad in Venice, Italy, (last year in January) I majored in Art History. My class mainly focused on sculptures, paintings, architecture and many other interesting cultural aspects that influenced the city of Venice, Rome and Milan. However, while I was away, I really wanted to see as much of Italy as I possibly could, therefore, I figured Art History would be my best option. From my perspective, I feel as if I got the most experience that Italy had to offer. From looking at the intricate details of paintings, sculptures and buildings, my knowledge in Art History expanded day by day.
There were four paintings that stood out to me, they were: Torcello, Basilica of ‘Santa Maria Assunta’ of the 12th century Mosaicist, Madonna. ‘Noah’s Flood’ of the 13th Century Mosaicist. ‘Miracle of the rocks,’ by Paolo Veneziano and ‘The coronation of the Virgin.’ By Paolo Veneziano. Each of these paintings consisted of Byzantine and Gothic Paintings of the XII – XIV century. However, each painting had their own explanation, but I interpreted each one differently.
After considering the style and influences of Gothic and Byzantine art on Renaissance art, I felt as if one had a greater impact on Renaissance art. After simply looking and thinking critically about which one influenced Renaissance art, I felt that Byzantine art had more of an influence for three specific reasons: the subject matter of Renaissance art, the humanism aspect of Renaissance art, and the mediums used in Renaissance art.
The subject matter of the Renaissance art that we have studied so far in Art 211 has been about religion—more specifically depictions of Biblical stories including Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, angels, saints, the Apostles, etc. These relations in subject matter to Christianity and religion come directly from art from the Byzantine era.
Aside from these paintings, there were also buildings, such as the Coliseum and the Fountain of Trevi, in Rome. With these...